You can only imagine what goes through an astronaut’s mind while they have a bird’s eye view of our planet from space. For former NASA astronaut Ron Garan, 62, the primary thought was a ‘sobering realization’ that we Earthlings are ‘living a lie’.
And no, it’s not that the Flat Earth theorists were right. It’s something much more profound.
Imagine being in Garan’s spacesuit, with an uninterrupted view of Earth, experiencing what’s known as the ‘overview effect’. This term describes the cognitive shift many astronauts feel when looking at Earth from space—a sense of awe with self-transcendent qualities. This phenomenon can trigger unexpected and overwhelming emotions for those brave enough to venture into space.
Garan experienced this during his 178 days in space, traveling over 71 million miles in 2,842 orbits during his NASA career. From the International Space Station (ISS), he drew some intriguing conclusions about our way of life.